Thai mortar and pestle is made from wood or clay. But we Indians mostly have metal or stone mortar and pestle. There is one trick...we can use wooden roti press or belan instead of wooden or earthen pestle. Thus we can pound softly.

Don’t pound too much as it will become a pasty salad. The juliennes should hold shape while combining with the rest of the ingredients.

If you do not have a mortar, just crush garlic, chillis and add them to a bowl. Add the soya sauce, lemon juice and jaggery followed by green papaya, cucumber and tomato juliennes along with roasted peanuts and combine well with hands by crushing.

Variations:

You can also add some raw mango juliennes, grated carrots or bean sprouts for variation.

You can add 1 tbsp tamarind pulp, if you are not using raw mango and you like to eat sourer. But do balance with soy sauce.